Stock Market

The Ontario government’s Conservation First Framework got a rough ride from local distribution companies (LDCs), natural gas firms and large power users during the Ontario Power Authority’s recent Stakeholder Advisory Committee (SAC) meeting. The big area of concern was the backend loaded aspect of the plan which means LDCs wouldn’t see any money until the end of the six-year period.

Parliamentarians have been back at work for a few of days now and the governing Conservatives continue to push an economic agenda. Its most recent announcement on EI premium cuts is expected to stimulate sluggish job growth. Perhaps, this is a good move, but unfortunately the myopic thinking of the federal government is missing a prime opportunity to not only encourage job growth, but also stimulate more economic output and address climate change at the same time.

A new report from the CD Howe Institute says that Ontario could see lower electricity prices and a better supply-demand match by moving to a capacity market. Released last week, the paper also notes that the existing centrally managed system is open to too much political interference.

The Ontario Power Authority (OPA) is only going to consider qualification proposals from proponents with significant financial resources and experienced teams, according to its draft RFQ energy storage procurement document. Companies can submit qualification request for a broad range of energy storage technologies.

The Ontario government’s Conservation First Framework aims to give local distribution companies (LDCs) much more flexibility in designing and delivering electricity savings programs to all classes of customers. This added flexibility may, however, create some unintended consequences that could lead to LDCs dropping popular programs such as peaksaver PLUS.